A total of 900 cameras and 100 enumerators will be deployed during the National Tiger Survey starting December 5. The tiger census will be inaugurated at Sauraha in Chitwan National Park.
The park will operate cameras and enumerators in the Chitwan-Parsa complex. According to Chief Conservation Officer of the park Haribhadra Acharya, the tiger census will be carried out by dividing the park into three complexes. In the first complex, Parsa National Park and Chitwan National Park can be counted in 20 days. Stating that tigers have been found in the national forest area outside the park and the intermediate zone of the park, Acharya said that cameras would be tapped to count the tigers up to Sarlahi.
During the tiger census, Acharya has urged not to cut grass and firewood in the intermediate forest area and in the national forest kept in camera tapping till December 5, 2021. "Tigers are very shy animals," said Acharya.
A pair of cameras are being placed at each location during the tiger census. Acharya said that the distance between a pair of cameras would be eight to 16 meters but both the cameras would take photos of the same tiger at the same time. "During the tiger census, we will divide the park into grids (determining the area of the tiger and making it square)," he said. "The distance from one pair of cameras to another will be one to two kilometers."
The camera is being placed at a height of about 45 to 60 cm from the ground. Cameras will be placed at a distance of four to eight meters for counting keeping the tiger walking path in the center. Acharya said that only tigers will be counted this time and other animals will be counted again after Najita is published.
"Previously, tigers and other animals were counted at the same time." He said, "Since there are bushes in the forest now, there is a problem in counting other animals. We will count only after March."
When and how many tigers were found?
1995/96 - About 100
2009-121
2013-1988
Where and how many tigers? (2018)
Chitwan National Park - 93
Bardia National Park - 87
Banke National Park-21
Parsa National Park - 18
Shuklaphanta National Park - 16
Total - 235
The park has said that the cameras used for counting the tigers are in danger of being stolen and destroyed. According to Acharya, some of the cameras were stolen and some were destroyed by elephants and tigers. "Cameras used to take pictures of tigers cannot be used for anything other than taking pictures of tigers," he said. "Automatic cameras will be used in counting tigers.
At a conference of 13 tiger recipients in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2010, Nepal pledged to double the number of tigers by 2022. Chief Conservation Officer of Parsa National Park Manoj Kumar Sah said that out of 121 tigers in Nepal in 2009, the conservation work is being carried out as per the commitment to increase the number to 250 by 2022. "Tigers are being counted every five years," he said. "In 2013, the number of tigers reached 198. In 2018, the number of tigers reached 235."
Although the number of tigers has reached 235 in the previous census, there is a challenge to reach 250 in the current census, said Sah. "The number of tigers is not increasing at all," he said. He added that Nepal would be the first country to double the number if 15 tigers were added to the census this time.
"We have been focusing on habitat management, poaching control, conservation education, etc. to increase the number of tigers," said Acharya, Chief Conservation Officer of Chitwan National Park. Although the number of tigers in Chitwan National Park has increased in 2013 compared to 2008, the decrease in the number of tigers in 2018 has added to the challenge, said Acharya.
Only 93 tigers were found in Chitwan National Park in 2009, 120 in 2013 and 93 in 2018. Similarly, the number of tigers in Shuklaphanta has remained stable in the census of 2013 and 2018, said Acharya. Eight tigers were found in Shuklaphanta in 2009, 17 in 2013 and 16 in 2018. In the last census, the number of tigers had increased in Parsa, Banke and Bardiya National Parks. According to the 2009 census, four tigers were found in Parsa, 18 in Bardiya, seven in Parsa in 2013, four in Banke and 50 in Bardiya. Similarly, in 2018, 18 tigers were found in Parsa, 21 in Banke and 87 in Bardiya. In 2009, tigers were not counted in Banke.
Chairman of the Intermediate Management Committee of Chitwan National Park, Prakash Dhungana, said that the tigers, though shy, were made violent due to humanitarian reasons. "When we see something new, the tiger turns away," he said. Stating that tiger population will be affected due to habitat conservation and food, Dhungana said that the entire environment will be affected due to tigers.
Among the areas where tigers are found in Nepal, Chitwan National Park and Parsa National Park have one complex, Banke National Park and Bardiya National Park have another complex and Shuklaphanta National Park and Laljhadi area in Kanchanpur have been rehabilitated.
